Tale with a religious aspect.

Several years ago (2002 approx) I experienced this coincidence which I still think about from time to time. Although I am not a practicing – ‘anything’, this tale does have a religious aspect to it. I used to work with a person who I knew was a devout Christian, as was his wife, and when I had the opportunity to visit a deaf school in the Holy Land, where my daughter was working, I purchased a number of craft products that the school children had produced. There were some wooden carvings on sale and I noticed that some of these included fish shaped band-saw cut-outs. On closer inspection I noticed that the word Jesus had been incorporated into the design of this carving and I immediately thought that this would be an appropriate present to give to my ex-colleague. I returned home but it was some time before I had the opportunity to give this to my friend since he didn’t live near. About a year later I had cause to visit somewhere beyond where my ex-colleague lived and so I placed the carving in a polythene shopping bag, placed it in the boot of my car and set off on my journey. When my business was completed I rang my friend’s works number to check on his whereabouts and, to my surprise, the clerical lady that answered my call said that Mr B. hadn’t turned in for work that day and she had no idea where he was. Although I didn’t have his home number stored in my phone I presumed that my friend would be at home so I set off making the small detour to where he lived. When I arrived at his house, mid afternoon, I was disappointed to discover that there was no answer after I rang the door bell. While wondering what to do next his neighbour appeared and informed me that Mr B. had be rushed to hospital earlier in the day and had no idea of his condition. I ask his neighbour if he would mind taking the gift that I had brought and hand it to Mr B. when he had the opportunity to do so. I later found out, from Mr B., that he had suffered an aneurysm and had ended up in the care of a major neurosurgical unit in a nearby city. I had worked with Mr B. for many years and couldn’t remember him ever having a day off work and he also confirmed that he had enjoyed excellent health all his life and this experience that he had suffered came as a complete surprise. My friend made a full recovery and thanked me for the gift which he now had hanging in his hallway. I couldn’t help pointing out the coincidence of my calling on the one day of his life that he had taken ill and suggested that my choice of present aided him in someway in his miraculous recovery. Of course, at the time, my comments were a little ‘tongue in cheek’ but I’ve never forgotten that ‘knowing nod’ that both my ex-colleague and his wife gave following my rather flippant remark. Coincidence or something else perhaps?